Tag: marvel comics

Only a week after announcing a new project at NYCC, Marvel has fired writer Chuck Wendig, the author first revealed on Twitter. Shadow of Vader #1-3 will go ahead as planned, but he’s off the last two issues, as well as another Star Wars comic that hasn’t been announced yet.

The firing was over his Twitter feed, Wendig says (and verified by sources within Marvel, per Vulture.) “I was too vulgar, too political,” he tells them.

Neither trait is particularly new for Wendig’s Twitter feed – he’s always been vulgar, and political, and unapologetic, particularly when butting heads with the more obstinate parts of fandom. What has changed in the past week or so is that he’s attracted the attention of some of Twitter’s more high-profile right-wing personalities, resulting in a fresh wave of trolling. That puts this more in the range of a situation like James Gunn’s – and the implications are that this is yet another example of Marvel (though the comic side and the movie side are very much removed from each other) caving to right-wing pressure. Granted, Wendig has been getting the short end of the troll stick since Aftermath – something he brings up for context – but the higher-profile attacks have brought a much more relentless wave.

“In this final chapter of the POE DAMERON series, we see what may be BLACK SQUADRON’S last mission, as they desperately attempt to find allies for GENERAL LEIA ORGANA’S decimated RESISTANCE,” the blurb says. So perhaps we’ll see what the “missing” pilots from The Force Awakens were up to during the events of The Last Jedi?

“This is about the story ending in a nice, tidy place based on everything else happening” in Star Wars, writer Charles Soule tweeted.

Woody Harrelson’s Tobia Beckett is getting a Marvel one-shot. Solicited for August, Beckett will be written by Gary Duggan (Chewbacca) with art by Will Sliney, Edgar Salazar and Marc Laming. The solicitation promises to reveal more about Enfys Nest and why they are “so dead set on taking him down once and for all.”

Jedi Bibliothek has the details on Marvel’s The Last Jedi adaptation. The six-part comic is will be written by Rogue One co-scriptwriter Gary Whitta and illustrated by Michael Walsh. The main cover is by Mike Del Mundo, and there’s also a Joe Quesada variant.

One of the few plotty Journey to The Last Jedi tie-ins that we know about, Marvel’s Captain Phasma comic, released a few preview pages today. They’re textless, but isn’t that always how it goes? The mini is written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Marco Checchetto (Who also did most of Shattered Empire, the mini which had a similar spot during Journey to The Force Awakens.)

The comic will begin in September, which also sees the release of Deliah S. Dawson’s novel Phasma, which will cover (at least) some of the character’s backstory.

Cassian Andor and K-2SO are getting their own prequel – a Marvel comic. Cassian & K-2SO Special #1 will be written by Duane Swierczynski with art by Fernando Blanco, and will show how the pair met. Look for it in August.

Marvel’s next mini stars Mace Windu, and it’s got a very chunky, Dark Horse-style title: Jedi of the Republic — Mace Windu. (Most of Marvel’s titles have been very simple, and heavily dominated by character names, so this is something of a throwback.) Written by Matt Owens and illustrated by Denys Cowan, it’s set in the early Clone Wars period. The cover is by Jesus Saiz.

Time to catch up with all The Last Jedi rumors that have been flying about recently. Our first batch is from Making Star Wars, which hints at Captain Phasma’s new weapon (check out a fan art interpretation) and a new form of walker. Plus, Jason Ward is tweeting about the look of things in general: “The Last Jedi looks like the Star Wars prequels took “Game of Thrones” on a date and they had a baby.” This does fit with several things we saw out and about throughout the filming, both in Dubrovnik and the U.K.

→ There’s also something going around about a guy from some British pop group having a cameo. Spoiler: It’s Gary Barlow, who also apparently hosts a talent show on the BBC. He’s older than me so it’s not a N’SYNC situation, at least.

→ In officially-sanctioned vagueness, there’s Laura Dern talking about how she can’t even tell her kids who she’s playing.

As announced Wednesday, Kieron Gillen’s successor series to Darth Vader will be Doctor Aphra. Aphra, introduced in Darth Vader #3, was Marvel’s first original canon character and has developed something of a following throughout the series. (And yes, “she’d be cast as an Asian actress,” Gillen says.) There’s a great deal of storytelling freedom to be had with an original character in the original trilogy era, and plenty to do with the concept of archaeology in a setting like the GFFA. (For instance… Jedha?)